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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wound · racket · band · pitcher · cold · hand · press · rule

  1. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. press — a publisher
  2. band — a music group
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. cold — not warm
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. hand — in cards
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rule — government
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. press — newspapers
  20. rule — a law
  21. press — to push
  22. wound — an injury
  23. hand — help
  24. racket — a loud noise

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com